Written by

Sound the Slaughter Fest

In its second year it’s looking like the Sound the Slaughter festival is going to be twice as big, both in terms of the number of bands performing, as well as in attendance.

The increase in bands comes from the festival adding a second stage, allowing for 22 bands this year. Organizers have already sold more tickets than they did last year, and they’re expecting that number to grow.

“With the second stage, we’re expecting a lot more people,” festival co-founder Charlie Hoag said. “The festival happens rain or shine, but if the weather is nice there’s no reason we can’t have six or seven hundred people this year.”

Fellow organizer Mark Schmitt described the first year of Sound the Slaughter as a “great learning experience.” The festival was originally scheduled to be held south of downtown before permit issues forced it to relocate to a lot on the north side of town (where the weekly Rendezvous on Riverview music series is held).

Hoag, Schmitt and John Ira had never put on a festival before. Though Schmitt said the first year was “not a smashing success” (paid atten­dance was about 240), they decided to move forward in 2013.

Among the acts performing this year are Reflections, Amass the Grave, Reaping Asmodeia, the Curse of Hail, They Will Repent, Micawber and Blessed Are the Merciless.

The three organizers have high hopes that the festival will become something that the metal scene will embrace, both nationally and locally. For local bands they see it as a chance to get out of playing in dark, cramped rooms and play for a large crowd outside.